On the Ruling Class Response to the Annihilation of the Reactionary Charlie Kirk

Editorial Board

Ruling class politicians and public figures have gathered behind the stinking corpse of Charlie Kirk, creating a nauseating pageant on the pages of all the major monopoly media outlets. The spectacle itself and the speculation around it are all more important to observe than the motive of the alleged shooter or even the action of the shooting itself. Charlie Kirk was an extreme right-wing reactionary and not some innocent victim, just as certainly as his shooting was not a revolutionary act. Nonetheless, the situation captures important aspects of American reality in development.

The current head of US imperialism, the ultra-reactionary Donald Trump, creates a lot of incendiary nonsense as always, speaking before the smoke had begun to clear. In the aftermath of the shooting, the butcher-in-chief said, “The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime. The radicals on the left are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible, and they’re politically savvy.” While Trump played the typical lip service to “healing” the country, he insisted “we’re dealing with a radical left group of lunatics, and they don’t play fair and never did.” This is said in spite of the fact that by all investigations produced so far, there is nothing to indicate that the shooter did not act alone.

Kash Patel, the Trump-appointed head of the FBI, said this: “Lastly, to my friend Charlie Kirk, rest now, brother. We have the watch, and I’ll see you in Valhalla.” The use of the term “Valhalla”—the mythical afterlife of the old-Norse pagan superstitions—can be read as a nod to ultra-reaction, a reference to the mysticism revived under Nazi Germany that has become popular among the extreme Right in the US. Immediately after Kirk’s annihilation, Patel, who has been praised by the White House, chose to dine at an exclusive high-end restaurant, leading some in his own agency to publicly criticize his handling of the case.

Trump’s fair-weather friend, former ally, and class sibling Elon Musk, the richest monopolist in the world, said, “If they [the so-called radical-left] won’t leave us in peace, then our choice is to fight or die.”

Such talk is not the idle venting of emotion, but continued preparation of repressive forces of the state alongside civilian reactionaries to carry out assaults on organized social movements in a more developed and repressive way. This is the very activity which makes individualist acts of desperate retaliation inevitable. The rhetoric from Trump and his kind do not indicate strength or confidence; the very public killing of Kirk fills them with fear.

The denunciations of political violence from the Right have taken on the form of a tragicomedy as they feverishly persecute free speech under the mantle of preventing violence while advocating for and carrying out violence under the guise of protecting free speech—a fitting tribute to their martyr Kirk, who made his career off of such demagoguery. These denunciations of violence arise from the same decrepit corners of reaction that celebrate ICE agents murdering and torturing workers and US terror at home and abroad.

In spite of the formal differences, the big figures of the Democratic mafia say the same thing as their counterparts in the Republican mob. While the extreme right-wing indicate that the killing of Kirk was the act of “radical leftists” spawned by the discourse of the Democrats, the Democrats essentially agree, complete with unending calls to curtail the language, persecute thought, and unite with the extreme right-wingers against political violence. Virtually all of the ruling class intends to canonize the dead reactionary as a martyr to free speech.

Former imperialist-in-chief and war criminal Barack Obama wrote on X just after the annihilation: “We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy.” Obama’s lauded “democracy” was responsible for the murder of thousands of civilians across the Middle East and Africa as part of imperialist wars of plunder under his command—for example, approximately 3,400 were killed in Obama’s campaigns against “ISIS” in Iraq and Syria, while the majority of the 26,000 civilian deaths in Afghanistan—a low estimate—took place under his tenure. These are some examples of the type of violence that has a place in “our democracy” and indicates clearly how Kirk is valued and the masses of the oppressed nations are not.

Former president and vice president to Obama, genocidal Joe Biden, writes the same: “There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now. Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones.” The kind of violence that does have a place in this country according to Biden is that which he unleashed on pro-Palestinian activists during his time in office, while dumping fortunes into financing genocide of the Palestinian people.

The revisionists and “democratic socialists” strike a similar pose and show fear more than resolve. 2016 and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, the so-called “left” of the Democratic mob, called Kirk “a very smart and effective communicator and organizer.” Sanders said in a video address, “Freedom and democracy is not about political violence. It is not about assassinating public officials. It is not about trying to intimidate people who speak out on an issue. Political violence, in fact, is political cowardice.”

Political rallies of politicians of all kinds were canceled after the annihilation of Charlie Kirk, with the politicians themselves citing security concerns. Democratic mobster Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez immediately postponed two public events planned for the weekend, while other politicians moved outdoor events inside or made bombastic statements about arming themselves. So much for political courage.

The so-called “socialist” mayoral candidate for the Democratic mob in New York City, Zohran Mamdani, called Kirk’s killing “horrific”, implying that mourning the death of the right-wing extremist must be “the shared notion of all humanity.”

Headlines in the falsely-named phony socialist rag “Jacobin” lamented “Charlie Kirk’s Murder is a Tragedy and a Disaster.” They wrote: “The assassination of Kirk is a tragedy. Morally, it is unjustifiable. Politically, it is cause for serious alarm. A larger spiral into political violence would be a catastrophe for the left.” One does not have to look hard to see that the “social democrats” hold the exact same view as the rest of the ruling class in regard to what does and does not constitute political violence and what must and must not be stopped. Such opportunism serves the monopolization of violence in the hands of the ruling class at the expense of the masses who suffer from it.

The revisionist project of the Avakianites posted on the Instagram account “revbooksnyc” that “the fascist leader Charlie Kirk was assassinated” and conclude from this the most miserable opportunist notion that “whatever comes to light, this assassination is counter to what’s urgently needed now: millions in the streets, acting nonviolently in sustained political protest, uniting broadly across different political perspectives…”, in other words, a message indistinguishable from the Democrats.

Workers Come Under Assault in a Real Attack on Free Speech

Across the US, public school teachers—who have been under systematic attack by both the current and previous administrations—as well as nurses, firefighters, and journalists have been fired or suspended for personal posts on social media condemning Kirk or celebrating his demise.

The Trump administration has also vowed to take action against “foreign nationals” it deems to be “praising, rationalizing or making light of” the killing of Kirk—which means targeting visa holders in a further assault on immigrants in the context of the ICE deportation terror campaign and politically-motivated deportations.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, now called “Secretary of War”, has issued orders to his staff to “find and identify all military members and any individual associated with the Pentagon, who have mocked or appeared to condone Charlie Kirk’s murder.”

Other Trump loyalists, in spite of decrying social media “censorship” in the past, have called for lifetime bans on any users saying anything negative about Kirk. Congressman Clay Higgens of the Republican mob posted on social media that those who “ran their mouth with their smartass hatred celebrating the heinous murder of a beautiful young man” should be “banned from ALL PLATFORMS FOREVER.”

The ruling class has mobilized their remaining influencers in a veritable snitch network and massive campaign to cause firings of those who make comments offensive to the ruling class, which has escalated into greater threats of reactionary violence not only to their economic but to their physical well-being. Scott Presler, a right-wing extremist with over 2 million social media followers, has asked these millions to inform about teachers “celebrating Kirk’s death.” He has gone so far as to share with his millions of fanatics the social media accounts of those he deems guilty.

Meanwhile, Democratic mobsters plead to cool the language and unite in the middle, saying nothing to condemn the assault on people’s rights.

The States of Florida, Texas, and Massachusetts have launched administrative campaigns which follow the call to action issued by the speakers of the ruling class. Florida’s board of education issued a memorandum warning school employees not to post their personal viewpoints on the topic. In Martin County, at least one teacher has already been removed from the classroom following personal social media posts.

In Massachusetts, three school staff have been put on leave over their alleged thoughts which they are said to have shared outside of work on social media. The superintendent of one of the districts issued a statement: “As many are aware, a teacher has been accused of making inappropriate comments in response to this event [the killing of Charlie Kirk] on her own social media page. As a result, that teacher has been placed on administrative leave for the foreseeable future and is not allowed on school property.”

This effort to scare teachers from having thoughts contrary to the state comes not only from Republican mob-controlled states like Florida or Texas, but from the Democratic mafia’s stronghold in Massachusetts. The repression of free speech was accompanied by district administration calls to increase militarized police on campus. The political motives were made clear in a letter to the families in the district: “We urge the entire school community to continue to condemn these brutal acts of violence our community has experienced,” it read.

The Texas Education Agency issued a letter to all superintendents stating that they have been made aware that “some Texas public school teachers have posted and/or shared reprehensible and inappropriate content on social media related to the assassination of Charlie Kirk.” It called for turning in documentation of this to the TEA’s Educator Investigation Division in an attempt to fire the teachers who personally and in their free time express anything contrary to the ruling class attempts to lionize Kirk. The letter concluded by praising the efforts of snitches at the schools who have already begun this repressive task.

In an act of repression praised by Texas Governor Greg Abbott among others, Texas Tech University expelled an 18-year old student for arguing with attendees of a memorial for the annihilated ultra-reactionary, while police absurdly charged the student with assault for allegedly flicking the brim of an attendee’s hat.

The groveling of ruling class representatives and invective to incite civilian reactionaries culminate in an overall repressive atmosphere that embodies ruling class desperation over what is to come. The monopoly media USA Today, among others, reported that several majority-Black colleges received terroristic threats prompting their closure. Five campuses across the South were put on lock-down the day after the shooting and classes were canceled over the weekend. Two more colleges in Atlanta asked students and faculty to avoid campus.

To the Left

The mood and temper of the people must be correctly understood and is far more significant than Kirk himself and the motive behind his annihilation. While the ruling class essentially unites in condemning the killing of Kirk, there is no shortage of those among the people who celebrate the eradication of the extreme-right’s mouthpiece—those who recognize that the man built a career promoting ultra-reactionary political agendas including playing a highly valuable role for the Republican mafia during both Trump campaigns among college students and young people.

The response of the ruling class and their lackeys cannot discourage such actions effectively with their pointed fingers, tears, or calls for unity, because these are spooned up from the same bog as the repression and disregard for democratic rights that create the impulse to extra-parliamentary political violence—however individualized—to begin with. Forbidding criticism of Kirk on threat of job loss, suspension, or investigation only confirms to more people that they are out of legal options, and in time prompting more to invoke the “criticism of weapons” indicated by Karl Marx: “Material force must be overthrown by material force.”

In the US, the masses reach the “boiling point” the ruling class is so desperately afraid of, but they still lack the centralized leadership of the working class embodied in its reconstituted Party. The justified anger and desperation of the people lacks both outlet and direction. The ruling class does everything covertly and overtly in its power to disorganize the people, to restrict their protest and force it down stifling legal channels. They repeat efforts to defang protest, while doubling the conditions being protested. The opportunists play their song and dance every time the rulers need it, insisting that all change must be minuscule and non-violent, ensuring the feeling that the mass movements are not working.

Revolutionaries, those who have always stood for the use of violence in the mass struggle and connected with it, can neither clutch their pearls nor wag their fingers. It is one thing to correctly insist that assassination and terror disconnected from mass struggles do not accomplish revolution, and do not serve them tactically, but it is another thing to do as the opportunists, to repudiate all violence of the oppressed against their oppressors. Kirk, for his part, was not simply “a free thinker” looking for “debate.” He was an oppressor by being the intellectual champion of oppression, by rallying millions to action materially in its service, deceiving so many in the process.

Alongside the much lamented “political violence”—by which they mean violence coming against the state and its lackeys from outside of it—is the rise in general mass anger that undergoes temporary lulls generally connected to the state of crisis in the economy. Indignation has risen to a fever pitch among the people, prompting the intellectuals in the service of the ruling class to look for brakes. They promote fear of providing pretext for oppression, while anyone paying attention knows full well that if pretext is lacking, the oppressor will invent it—that is, if they bother to traffic with a reason at all for their increased repression. Such false concerns either arise from collaboration with the ruling class or disconnect from the masses.

It can be said with minimal speculation that the increase in armed individual acts will develop into armed acts of small groups, and this will develop into a misguided strategy with resumption of military actions lacking the political party needed for their direction. This will be championed by a few opportunists, who will insist that the masses are far from being able to make history, that they should not be armed or agitated toward the complete overthrow of tyranny.

It is not enough for revolutionaries to celebrate the death of this or that tyrant alongside the masses, but to step by step work toward providing the necessary organization that can train revolutionaries; not simply to give their lives as individuals to the eradication of individual oppressors, but to develop the entire revolutionary temper into a storm of change, which will be the great culmination of revolutionary violence and an end to the imperialist system that stands and falls on having or not having a monopoly on violence. This is the reality, objective of the thoughts and prayers dished out by the rulers of the old order. Political radicalization is going through a leap, and it will not be halted by the idiots who champion meeting in the middle.

In spite of their small numbers, the storms of these days indicate bright prospects of hard struggle, first for the revolutionaries to put an end to their dispersal, then to consolidate firmly with the revolutionary masses. Then nothing is impossible, and so it will be.

Image: Charlie Kirk with President-elect Trump in December 2024, Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons.

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